Looking into the italian dictionary and Google pages for maccheroni, I found some facts, maybe amusing .
The word is written a little differently and not all types of pasta called 'maccheroni' have the short cut elbow-like form but it can cover lots of types of pasta (little codice della pasta).

From dictionary:
> A maccherone is a gullible, dopey person.
>There is a saying: "cascare or piovere come il cacio sui maccheroni",(something falling or raining like cheese on the maccheroni) meaning something coming in handy at the right moment.

To see all the various types of pasta:link: pasta it

A nice and simple recipy:

Maccheroni con pecorino e menta
Sardinian origin: some type of short pasta with thinly sliced pecorino(the hard sheep cheese)and mint.
The trick is to melt the cheese with some water and when melted drain off the rest of the water and add some oil instead.Keep below cooking level.Add a few dry mint leaves and wait till the flavor has settled then use like any pasta sauce. Meaning stir well throught the hot 'macaroni'. (like pesto)